DIY a Barbie Movie Outfit for Your Doll

Probably everyone will know about Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie movie by now, even if they haven’t seen it at the cinema (yet). Many of you might also know that I sometimes publish tutorials on Barbie patterns and sewing. And continue getting requests for more.

Obviously I wasn’t going to pass on this opportunity to recreate a few of the Barbie movie outfits in tiny scale! 😀

I know you can also buy most of these, with or without the doll, but where’s the fun in that from a maker’s point of view?

For practical reasons, I picked outfits that appear in the trailer and other promotional material available on the internet: the pink gingham dresses, the rollerblade outfit, and the western/cowgirl look.

You can download the basic pattern set from the Free Downloads section you’ll find at the side panel -or the bottom of the page if you’re on mobile. We’ll use those as a base. I made the example outfits for quite a recent doll, so, I used the patterns labelled “new type” that are drafted for a doll that has a smaller bust and larger waist than the earlier versions (let’s say those from the 90s and earlier).

Barbie Movie: The Gingham Dress.

This is perhaps the most popular look, judging by how many gingham dresses I have already seen on social media, so of course I had to include it here.

I actually managed to find the most perfect pink and white gingham fabric in small scale. It was also available in larger scale, so I Could make myself the same dress if I wanted to. It’s lightweight cotton.

The Pattern

You’ll need the basic bodice pattern -waist length is enough- and the basic skirt pattern.

First, unite the two darts by rotating the bust dart down. Fill the gap with a little piece of paper and re-center the dart a few millimeters away from the bust point. Yes, the measurements are rather tiny here! That’s why I chose not to include inches.

Then, draw the new shapes on top of the pattern pieces, as shown here. I lowered the armhole by 0,5cm and made the waist just a little bit smaller as there’s some slack in the pattern. You can reduce the front waist length slightly to make the waist line straighter.

There will be separate shoulder straps. Consider about 3-4mm width.

The upper edge of the back piece should form a continuous line with the front piece. Lengthen the dart so that it reaches the edge. This way you can close it. Adjust the lines to remove angles.

How about the skirt? Well, start by tracing the basic skirt block. Straighten the c-back seam at the top and enlarge the back dart by the amount you added at the c-back to maintain the same waist measurement.

At this point it’s a good idea to compare the bodice and skirt waist measurements. They need to match, as they will be sewn together. You can add or remove the required amount at the side seams of the skirt, if needed.

Adjust the skirt length. I ended up with 9cm. This way the skirt hemline ends up just above the knees.

To make things easier, we’ll now turn the basic skirt into a more manageable A-line shape.

Rotate the waist darts towards the hemline so that they turn into flare. Add 1,5cm at the side seam: straighten the side seams. Re-draw the hemline so that it forms a continuous line between the front and back pieces.

The last step is to add the box pleats. Now that you no longer have the darts, you can simply divide the front and back pieces into 3 sections. The ones closest to the c-front and c-back are exactly half as wide as the other two.

Start tracing the sections, one at the time, and add 2,5cm of pleat allowance in between at a right angle. Draw a guideline in the center of each pleat allowance as you go. After section 3, continue with section 4; the front and back pieces will be united into one piece.

Fold the box pleats towards the guideline you drew in the center and cut the waist line with the pleats folded to get the correct pleat allowance shape. You might also want to add seam allowance before cutting. Re-draw the hemline.

These are the final pattern pieces. I drew a notch around where the dart tip was at the back to have a reference for attaching the shoulder strap. There will be an opening at the c-back.

You can make the shoulder straps using the same fabric as the dress or go with ready-made 3mm satin ribbon. There will also be a belt.

Sewing the Gingham Dress

The sewing sequence of this Barbie movie outfit pretty much follows the order I usually sew any doll-sized dress. You can have a look here.

Remember to cut notches around each pleat allowance and in the center where you drew the guidelines, so that you’ll know where to fold.

I prepared the skirt and the top separately at first. For the skirt, this meant sewing the hem while the skirt was still laying flat. Here you can see a 0,5cm fold at the hem. I used the tiniest needle I had. I think it was a size 8. Then, I folded the little pleats and stitched in place along the waist. I left the c-back seam open.

As for the top, I cut two layers because it’s the easiest way to finish the edges!

I started by preparing the shoulder straps (and the belt while I was at it). They were about 8cm long each and you need 4 of them. Since it would be pretty much impossible to leave the seams on the inside, I just folded a strip of fabric in half and stitched as close to the folded edge as I could and trimmed off excess width.

Next, I closed the bodice darts and side seams and hand stitched the shoulder straps in place on the right side of the bodice, as shown.

After this, you pin the two layers right sides together along the upper edge and stitch. You’ll need to trim off part of the seam allowance and make a few cuts along the rounded sections before turning the right sides out and pressing.

Then you can attach the skirt to the bodice.

Start by attaching it to the top layer. Once that’s done, close the short edges of the bodice c-back and the skirt’s c-back seam.

The final step is to fold the lining layer’s lower edge under and hand stitch it in place along the waist.

You can use little snaps or hook and loop tape to close the c-back opening.

I made a little belt buckle with seed beads:

Here’s the result. The most difficult part was actually tying the tiny bows at the shoulders!

If you want to make a petticoat, you can use the short gingham skirt pattern shown here below and add a ruffle to its hem: measure the hemline and double the measurement to discover the length of the ruffle piece. You can make it, for example, 3cm high.

The Short Gingham Dress

This Barbie movie outfit should be easy if you already made the previous design. It’s the short gingham dress. I was a bit tempted to attempt making the sun hat, too, but in the end it seemed too fiddly so I didn’t. 😀

The fabric is obviously the same. This time I used the 3mm satin ribbon for the shoulder straps.

The Pattern

Here, too, you’ll need the basic bodice pattern and the basic skirt pattern.

The bodice is almost the same as above, so, you can follow the instructions there. You just add the little heart shape to the back piece. I made the upper edge of the top straight, but it should actually have this kind of rounded shape instead.

The skirt pattern is similar as well, in that we first straighten the c-back seam and compensate by enlarging the dart. This time, the skirt is shorter. I made it 6cm long, but I think it could be even slightly shorter.

Then, let’s make it an A-line skirt: Add 0,5cm of flare at the side seam, both front and back, and rotate the darts towards the hemline to turn them into flare.

Re-draw the hemline so that it forms a continuous line between the two pieces. Mark a notch to the side seam at hip level. This is where the opening will end at the left side.

Finally, let’s add the scalloped shape:

These are the pattern pieces. This time, the back piece has to be cut on the fold due to the heart shaped hole.

Sewing

The heart shaped hole wasn’t as difficult as it might seem. Having two layers, I simply pinned the right sides together and sewed around the shape. Before turning the right sides out I made lots of little cuts into the seam allowance and trimmed off some fabric around the pointed tip. Then, I pulled the lining layer through the hole to the wrong side and pressed the piece.

In the meantime I had also sewn the darts and the right side seam of the main layer (the left will remain open).

Hand stitch the shoulder straps in place before sewing the top edge. You can stitch them to either layer.

Here we have the bodice with the top edge of the front section sewn and pressed, and the right side seam of the lining layer closed as well.

Because of the hole you don’t have enough space to sew the top edge of the back piece normally with the sewing machine. So I hand stitched it instead.

You might be wondering how to finish the scalloped edge of the skirt. I opted for raw edge + fray check.

This time you only close the right side seam and then attach the bodice like before.

Fold the remaining seam allowances of the bodice to the inside and hand stitch. Then, you can close the skirt’s left side seam below the notch.

Prepare a belt in the same fabric and add a closure.

Here’s my Barbie with the short gingham dress but without the hat.

The Rollerblade Outfit

Without the rollerblade gear, that is. 😀 I actually should have roller skates somewhere, as I had a Rollerskate Sindy back in the day. But unfortunately I couldn’t get to them.

This means we have some kind of an 80s workout look instead, bathing suit on top of shorts. The outfit required some creative solutions also fabricwise: it was not possible to find a fabric similar to the “bathing suit” part of the outfit, so I used fabric pencils to decorate a plain lycra.

I wasn’t sure whether I should even include this Barbie movie outfit in the tutorial at all, since it was missing so many features. But here it is anyways!

By the way, I have always sustained that you should never attempt making tiny clothes with stretch fabrics. And here I go… But I must say, lycra actually wasn’t as bad as I thought. It even had a positive aspect: it doesn’t fray at all, so I could leave raw edges.

The Pattern

For this pattern we’ll use the dartless bodice block and the top section of the pants block. Huh, a dartless bodice?? It’s because there’s no knit block in the pattern set. But don’t worry, we’ll make it work!

Start by tracing the waist length dartless bodice block. Then, take the pants block and place it aligned to the bodice, as shown (see the pink arrows). The bodice waistline should be parallel to the pants’ hipline. The c-back line of the pants is inclined, so, it should end up 2mm inward from the bodice c-back line.

Trace the upper section of the pants keeping them positioned like this.

Draw the bathing suit shape on top. I have included some reference measurements for you. This is a rather high cut bathing suit.

As lycra has a good amount of stretch, you can make the side seams very curved. Notice that you compensate that extra width at the waist’s c-back by removing it at the side seam.

I left a 4mm width for the shoulder straps and the crotch section (which will become double when you cut it on the fold).

Here are the pattern pieces. Both will be cut on the fold. You can always trim these more later.

The shorts pattern comes from the pants block, of course.

I started by lowering the waist by about 0,5cm. The final pattern won’t have a side seam, which means that the front and back pieces will be united. Overlap them around the hip level by 0,5cm. Incline the pieces so that there’s only a small gap at the waist between them.

Re-draw the waist line and remove the extra width at the c-front and c-back of the pants. As the c-back is already inclined, I removed more at the c-front.

Decide on the length. Mine ended up being 2,5cm from the crotch line down. Measure the circumference of your Barbie’s leg at this point. You can place a piece of thread or ribbon around the leg and then measure the piece; the measuring tape is too big for this purpose.

This way you’ll know how wide the shorts’ hemline needs to be. We’ll want the shorts pretty tight. Mine were 6,8cm wide. You’ll also need to remove some width at the crotch line, as shown. Most of it at the back.

Then your pattern is ready.

Sewing the Outfit

The bathing suit only has the side seams that are fairly easy to sew with the sewing machine. I hand stitched the other three seams. Trim the seam allowances only leaving about 3mm.

As you can see, I have lots of raw edges here.

I left raw edges to the shorts’ hemlines and waist, too. As lycra stretches, you don’t need an opening either.

Close the inseams and then sew the two pant legs together along the crotch seam. Trim off some of the seam allowance so that it won’t create as much bulk.

I completed the look by coloring the bathing suit with my fabric pencils. Okay, technically they are multi surface acrylic pencils, fabric included. And here’s the resulting outfit. Not quite like the original, but I hope yours will look better! It’s all about the print.

Here I added the would-be knee and elbow pads in Photoshop. I think they could be just simple little tubes, if you want to make them in fabric.

The Western/Cowgirl Outfit

Last but not least. This was the most difficult piece to make due to my choice in fabric: midweight jersey! Not recommended. At all! Jersey is probably one of the most difficult materials to sew in small scale and the only thing that saved me just a bit was the fact that it was midweight, not lightweight. Anyways, you have been warned. 😀

Again, I resorted to my fabric pencils to decorate the pants and the top, and even the little scarf!

The Pattern

As a base for the top I used the basic bodice block.

Both the front and back pieces are divided into two panels. Those of the front piece can be separated following the dart edges. Just add a notch at the bust point. As for the back piece, first move the dart slightly towards the c-back and then draw a line between its tip and the shoulder line, as shown.

Extend the front piece by 4mm to create an overlap. Lower the armhole by 5mm and make the shoulder line slightly narrower, as shown. The hemline curves down towards the c-front.

Before separating the pieces, draw the collar shape on top and trace it. Close the dart and re-draw the lines. Finally, unite the front and back pieces along the shoulder line. This piece will be sewn on top so the bodice panels remain as they are.

The pocket piece is quite tiny: 1cm x 1cm square with rounded lower corners.

Next, trace the basic pants block. As I used jersey, I could make the pants rather tight. If you use woven fabric, leave a bit more ease; with these measurements the pants will be skin tight.

The pants have a low waist and there’s a small V-shape at the c-front.

The flared section starts at knee level, so, once you’re happy with the upper section, measure the width of the front and back pieces at the knee line. You’ll also need the remaining measurement from the knee line down.

Divide the front and back pieces into two panels starting at the center of the new hemline. Before separating the pieces, draw the waistband shape on top, as shown, and trace the pieces. Unite them along the side seam and adjust the lines. This piece will be sewn on top, just like the collar. You can mirror it so that you have the entire piece.

Here’s how to draft the flared section. The starting point is a rectangle. One for the front and one for the back. Use the measurements from before.

Add 0,9cm of flare to each side and 1,8cm in the center of both rectangles with the slash & spread method.

Then, unite the two pieces along the side seam and re-draw the hemline. There will be a seam only at the inside of the leg.

These are all the pattern pieces we got for this outfit. The waistband’s grainline is parallel to the c-front, whereas that of the pants panels is parallel to the panel seams.

Sewing

So, let’s put all these various little pieces together then, starting from the top.

First, sew the panels together and close the side seams. But not the shoulder seams, yet. I had a brilliant idea of stay stitching the armholes and the hemline. Not an easy task as the fabric was refusing to collaborate! Luckily it wasn’t fraying. If you use woven fabric, just line the whole thing.

After this experience I decided to hand stitch the pockets in place. Much easier!

I folded the c-front edge and closed the shoulder seams.

In the second pic you can see the collar piece pinned on top. I decorated it beforehand. Also here, hand stitches were my best option, although I did manage to top stitch the neckline with the sewing machine.

Same thing with the pants. I started by sewing the panels together, and then closed the side seams but left the inseams open so that the pant legs were laying fairly flat.

Then, I decorated the flared sections with stars of different sizes and little dots and hemmed the pieces before attaching them to the upper section.

I figured it would be easier to attach the waistband while the piece was still flat, so, I just closed the c-front seam a bit at the top and hand stitched the waistband on top.

Then, I closed the inseams and the rest of the crotch seam. In my case there’s no opening because the fabric has enough stretch.

After this I only needed to add some final touches with the fabric pencils.

The scarf is a rectangle with pointed tips I cut in the same fabric and decorated with the white pencil.

Here’s the final look. Now I wish I had a little cowboy hat for my Barbie!

The doll’s proportions are different from human’s, so I think I should’ve either made the top slightly longer or the pants higher, because the gap is quite large between the two.

While I’m happy with the pants’ fit, I’d probably look for a woven fabric with added elastane for a better result in general. Especially the top was quite tricky to make in jersey.

And that was the last Barbie movie outfit of this tutorial!

Of course, now I’m intrigued by re-creating selected Barbie outfits for human size. You know, the actual Doll Barbie. With Margot Robbie wearing all kinds of Barbie-inspired looks for promotional events and all.

OR I could do a tutorial on the outfits you saw here, but for humans to wear.

What would you prefer?

Related Posts

• 
  Draft and Sew Sculptural Doll Clothes
• 
  How to Draft Patterns for DIY Barbie Clothes
• 
  How to Sew Barbie Clothes